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As much fun as it is to write and play songs, this year I remembered how much MORE fun it is to play them with a band backing you. Especially when it’s a group of your “new best friends”.
Admittedly, I thought of that name before I assembled this little gang. I handpicked people I wanted to really assemble and play with: Joe Bac (guitar), Eliza James (harmony), Greg Abelar (bass), and Jeff Baker (percussion). We got together and practiced weekly. With all the time we’ve spent together, though, they really have become “my new best friends”. (My “old best friends” aren’t too slighted by this. I have a pretty big tribe of special people in my circle. I’m a lucky guy.)
We’ve been busy, kicking things off with an appearance at this year’s Days of Wine and Wet Noses festival in Scotts Valley, which included a set from us AND a few songs in a mid-day Tom Petty tribute. Since then we’ve been hitting a good percentage of the microbreweries in the county, getting lots of stage time, and playing to lots of new people.
A highlight was a benefit for Jacob’s Heart and Second Harvest Food Bank last summer at Kuumbwa Jazz Center (see the “Hey Karma” video above). Pretty nice that our fifth gig out was at the nicest venue in the county. To promote that, we did a set on KPIG radio’s live Sunday morning music show, “Please Stand By”. That set is what you’ll hear in this episode, which includes live takes on “Somewhere I Went Right” and “It’s Nothing Personal (The Layoff Song)” from the “Hey Karma” record, and a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly”.
We have lots more in store as we wind down 2018 and plan for 2019. Learn (and hear) more on our band page, and subscribe to my mailing list (over there on the right) to learn what we’ll be up to next.